


Nameless

by orphan_account



Series: Stuck Inside in 2020 Works of Boredom [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Doing the Right Thing, Gen, It really should be, No romo, That's not a tag, stormtroopers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23970202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: ZD-2138 was your usual stormtrooper. Like so many, taken from her home planet, trained to be a killer, a soldier, a weapon. And like many, yet so few, she is a traitor to her so-called cause.
Relationships: Original Female Character | Stormtrooper & Original Male Character | Stormtrooper
Series: Stuck Inside in 2020 Works of Boredom [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684453
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	Nameless

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Story of Finn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5594782) by [LullabyKnell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LullabyKnell/pseuds/LullabyKnell). 
  * Inspired by [Tomorrow (there'll be more of us)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5648131) by [dimircharmer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimircharmer/pseuds/dimircharmer). 
  * Inspired by [Sanitation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5696512) by [GemmaRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose). 
  * Inspired by [The Roar of Mice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5831938) by [LullabyKnell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LullabyKnell/pseuds/LullabyKnell). 



ZD-2138 was your usual stormtrooper. They called themselves 'Zed', and they were a sniper, not a ground soldier. The First Order didn't have much use for snipers, but they also functioned as scouts, and they got a lot of alone time, so they didn't complain.

ZD-2138 was from a very far-away planet that they couldn't remember, but they also didn't care, because as long as they did what they were told, did it correctly, and well, they would be sent out again, and would have more alone time.

ZD-2138 was one of the first people to hear the story of FN-2187, or Finn. They liked calling him Finn in their head, although they never spoke of him in that way aloud. Of course nobody did, unless it was in a derogatory way. In fact, the name 'Finn' became a slur amongst the higher-ups. Someone who showed empathy, or failed for personal reasons.

ZD-2138 looked a lot different from their companions. They didn't have the buzz-cut that many of the stormtroopers liked, instead having grown out their hair until it floated around their ears. They were only allowed that because as a scout and sniper, it was easier to blend in if they looked like a female human, with longer, or visible hair.

ZD-2138 personally thought that was the First Orders biggest mistake when it came to her. Yes. Her. Most stormtroopers didn't go by he or she while in armour. And most of the higher-ups simply addressed them by their designation, 'trooper', or a non-binary pronoun, because of some reason that ZD-2138 didn't know about.

The reason she thought it was their biggest mistake was because it meant she could express herself. If she was feeling unhappy or less energetic in the morning, she would comb her hair so it lay very flat, showing that visibly. If she was peppy, it would be a bit more wild.

She had very pale skin, so she was often assigned to planets where there was very little sun, because of something to do with genetics, and light sensitivity, and other such things. That was fine with her. She liked the cold, and she liked the way her hair got what someone she'd once meet while travelling to a assassination had called 'highlights' and 'low lights' from either lack of sunlight, or exposure to sunlight. She liked the way some strands would seem to shine a glittering golden-red colour.

If you were to ask her officers what they thought of her, they'd say that she was a quiet soldier who did her job well, and on time. If she sometimes got distracted, or her hair seemed a bit odd, it wasn't that big of a deal, not to them.

Her expression was always perfectly blank, although sometimes she would bite her cheek or tongue to keep from smiling, and would often repeat funny things over to herself when alone, until they were no longer funny at all.

When ZD first met BK, she thought the woman seemed a bit too perfect. A perfect soldier was a bad soldier, if you asked her, because it meant that they had something secretly wrong with them. Although she never said that aloud, because it meant she would have something wrong with her.

Which, she did.

BK was the one who really jump-started ZD's brain. ZD often would act out her mission reports during her missions, when she was alone, just to make sure that she would get it right. And when she was with BK on a transport mission, transporting some random prisoner, who she knew was named Bekka, she'd asked BK something dangerous.

"What's in your head?"

BK had turned her head slightly, and ZD had gotten the impression that the soldier was frowning at her.

"A brain." BK had deadpanned, and ZD had snorted. Stormtroopers, when alone, expressed more emotion. But only then, and those moments were very private.

"I meant, what's your thing?" ZD had asked. "What do you do? When you're worried, do you meditate or something? What's your thing, BK?"

"Stories." had been the answer, and it had completely changed ZD's life.

Because BK had been so clever. So, so, so clever. As long as you didn't tell anyone about them, you couldn't get in trouble for having stories. Stories were secrets that couldn't be stolen, because while they were worth their weight in gold to the stormtroopers, the officers couldn't care less, mostly because they didn't know. And besides, most of the stories that the officers knew of were ones that they spread. One's for control.

"What's in your head, ZD?" BK had then asked. ZD had smiled, although it couldn't be seen under her helmet.

"Voices." ZD had replied quietly. "I imagine things. They're not real."

"So, stories as well?" BK had asked.

"I suppose. You gonna tell anyone?"

"This never happened."

ZD had never seen BK ever again.

Two months later, ZD had defected, alone.

* * *

"''M Zed." Zed said gruffly, as she leaned against the door frame, back lit by the light of the hold of her ship. She'd named it a random string of numbers that meant absolutely nothing. For no reason. "What's your name?"

The man in front of her looked pretty annoyed. "Why should I tell you?"

Zed was wearing her combat boots from back when she was a trooper—a personal f-you to them—jeans, and a leather jacket. On her wrist, a comm link sat, and a small blaster was hidden under the jacket, on the back of her hips. On her hip, clearly visible, was a small, but very powerful taser.

She hadn't grown her hair out, simply cutting it with a knife whenever it got a bit long, and she'd been doing well, completely ditching her old persona. She'd secretly arranged for the Rebellion to receive everything she knew about the First Order, and hadn't contacted either side since.

"Because you're my prisoner, I found you half-dead in space, and oh right, because I asked you."

It had been four years since she'd defected, and she hadn't ever regretted it. The First Order tried to cover those things up. She was safe. For now.

Except for this kid, who just screamed _stormtrooper_.

"I'm Ken Whittle." he grumbled.

"Who you with?" Zed followed up right away, not moving from her spot. "Ken? KN? Were you a trooper?"

That struck a nerve, and he flinched away. "No!"

"You were!" she crowed gleefully. "You defect?"

"Of course not!" he blurted, then tried to save himself. "Because I never was one?"

"Ken. Tell me your designation, right now." she ordered, and when he didn't answer, repeated the order. "I'm sure they'd love to have you back."

"KN-5492!" he blurted, and she grinned, even as he winced.

"You run away?"

"Yeah."

"They after you?"

"No idea."

She sighed, and leaned her head back. "Oh, I'm gonna regret this. Okay, first things first. Get changed. Should be clothes right there—" she pointed to a cubby in the wall. "Pick what you like, I don't care. Ditch everything else, and give them to me."

She stood straight, and cracked her neck. "If you're going to run away Ken, you'll do it the right way."

She then stepped out, and let him change in the dim light of the storage room.

A minute later, he came out, wearing dark brown-black colours, and a red jacket, his former clothes in hand. She took them from him, and tossed them into the incinerator, closing it. Then, she pointed to the button that would burn them.

"If you are serious, you are going to press that, and say good-bye to your old life, because you can not go back after all of this."

He pressed it.

* * *

"Why'd you leave?" she asked, first thing. Ken looked up, and then very quietly, very slowly, pulled out a comm, and handed it over.

Just as slowly, Zed pulled out her blaster, and aimed it at Ken, who nervously backed up, until he was up against the wall, the muzzle of the gun pressing into his skin, right over his heart. He swallowed.

"What is this?" Zed asked darkly, holding it far away from him. "Tell me."

"BK." Ken muttered."

"Repeat that, would you?"

"It's a recording of a message that a trooper left for me. I destroyed the original. Just listen."

"How do I know it's not a trap?" Zed demanded, and Ken swallowed again. He didn't have an answer for that.

"You don't."

"Alright." Zed said simply, and used her thumb, without looking, to start it.

_"If you're listening to this, it's because I know you don't like your situation. You don't agree with what the First Order stands for, and you are willing to risk leaving. Defecting."_

Zed stared down at Ken, who had his eyes closed, and was shaking slightly. The voice that Zed remembered from that one mission, oh so long ago, reverberated around the ship's hull.

_"And I am telling you that you are not alone. Many troopers have similar thoughts, although they keep them private, and you probably haven't heard of them._

_"ZD-2183. She left a while ago, and it was covered up. AA-1100 left at the very same time. OT-9583. JK-4747. And maybe the most famous of all, FN-2187. I could go on for days. But I won't._

"T _here's an outpost on the edge of the known universe, just beyond the mapped star charts. Follow these coordinates, then put Tatooine behind you, and fly straight."_

_"If you're listening to this, come. You'll be safe, the outpost will direct you to us. This war isn't yours, come. This is not a trap."_

There was a long pause of static, and heavy breathing. " _I'm dying. This will be my final message. But to confirm to my fellow survivors that I am telling the truth, I give you something of my own._

_"In my head, I write stories of killing Kylo Ren and destroying the First Order."_

Nobody would say that from within the First Order. Not even for such a trick as the message was. As the recording ended, Zed lowered her gun.

"Guess I made an impression on BK then." she scoffed, holstering her weapon. "C'mon Ken, let's go give the middle finger to the First Order, shall we?"

"You were a trooper?"

Zed nodded at him, smirking. "ZD-2183. At your service. Now, are we going to go, or die of old age?"

**Author's Note:**

> Written On: 10/11/19


End file.
